The Portland Trail Blazers played well down the stretch of the 2024-25 season, finally taking that jump to become an intriguing rebuilding team after enduring three long, forgetful years.
Typically, these types of improvements would signal that a team doesn't have to make many changes, as Portland finally has several promising pieces. However, the Blazers are in a unique position because their young core is the one that primarily led their end-of-season push. They not only held the fort down with key veterans out with injuries, but they also elevated Portland's play.
That's what makes this offseason so important -- the Blazers need to clear up positional logjams, most notably in the backcourt, as Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe both showed flashes of star potential.
Blazers need to trade Anfernee Simons to the highest bidder
Scoot and Sharpe showed the progress that the Blazers were desperately seeking this season. However, the one knock on their development is that it hasn't been linear, as both young guards have struggled with inconsistent play.
To a certain extent, that's to be expected for 21-year-old players who are still finding their footing, especially considering that guards typically take longer to adjust to the NBA. But the Blazers also aren't helping themselves. Their future backcourt duo has had to overcome more adversity than necessary, dealing with inconsistent roles throughout the season.
Despite becoming a more complete player, Henderson's minutes and usage rate decreased compared to his rookie season. Sharpe averaged 31.3 minutes but took his game to another level when he became a focal point by process of elimination with so many injuries piling up. He put up All-Star-level numbers in April, averaging 28.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. It's a small sample size of just five games, but he's proven capable of taking on a more permanent role in terms of offensive hierarchy, potentially even becoming the secondary option behind Deni Avdija.
There would be growing pains associated with this move. Anfernee Simons is one of the Blazers' best players, providing them with valuable shooting and playmaking as a combo guard, two areas Portland still needs to address. But, barring a surprising blockbuster trade, the Blazers are still a few years away from being considered legitimate threats to make a deep playoff run.
In order to prioritize the top ten picks they invested so heavily into, Portland needs to trade Simons to the highest bidder this summer.